Worse Than Halloween
by ShadowSpires
Summary: Tony hated anything having to do with Gotham. More than he hated having cases on Halloween. Hell, every case in Gotham was like a case on Halloween. Followed by "Voices From The Past."


The body of a child, swimming in overly-large clothes, half in a pool of blood, was one of the last things that Tony expected to find when they cleared the warehouse their errant petty officers were using to base their drug trade.

His brain froze in horror for the second it took his body to reach the child and place careful fingers against the boy's neck.

Warm.

Pulsing.

He almost choked on his relief. He knew he was going to have nightmares about this scene, about finding the child dead.

A crash and his name being shouted as the rest of the team made their way towards him, guns raised, told him he must have called out for them in his shock.

"I found a kid," he called back to them, voice tight with worry. "Get an ambulance. He's still alive, but unconscious."

The team reached him.

McGee automatically holstered his gun and brought up his camera to document the scene. Tony carefully turned the child, wary of injuries.

There was so much blood.

The child let out a weak moan, and his eyes fluttered.

Blue slits appeared as he looked blearily up at Tony. He stared for a second before he began to struggle in the hold Tony had on him.

Tony made it to "Whoa, clam down kid, we're co-" before he cut off with a chocking gasp when the child's elbow impacted his stomach, and he lost all his air.

The boy scrambled out of Tony's loosened hold and away from the people with guns. He tripped on, then scrambles right out of, the oversized pants he was wearing. He ended up in only a bloody tee-shirt that hung down around his knees, and slipped off one shoulder. Bright streaks of red looked wrongwrong*wrong* on the tiny form, marring pale skin and matting dark hair.

Wide blue eyes looked like they were attempting to swallow the boy's face as they darted between the team, who had all lowered their guns, Tony still kneeling on the floor - and the dead bodies littering the rest of the area.

"Where am I?" His voice was tight, but not as terrified as Tony expected him to be. He looked scared, but far more together than Tony would expect a child - he can't be more than six - to look. "Who are they?"

There was something odd about the way he was standing, Tony thought, as Gibbs walked forward slowly, hands open and obviously empty at his sides. Tony couldn't quite place it, the shirt hid a lot of the cild's body, but it looked-

"Do you know Judo, son?" Gibbs asked. And yeah, it looked like a martial arts stance.

"I am not your son." The child stated. "My name is Timothy. Where is Mrs. Mac, and why have you kidnapped me?"

"We didn't kidnap you, kid." Tony protested, "We're-

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Yes, I know. It says so on your vest."

Tony blinked. Well, yes, it did, but- well, damn it! If the kid knew they were cops, why did he think they kidnapped him, and why did he keep backing away every time Gibbs tried to get closer?

"What are NCIS doing in Gotham?"

Oh. Tony thought, as the team traded looks. That explained it.

Damn. Tony hated anything having to do with Gotham. More than he hated having cases on Halloween. Hell, every case in Gotham was like a case on Halloween. In part because their police force was so horribly corrupt that Tiny wouldn't put kidnapping a child past them, but also because the city and everyone from there was just plain weird.  
Case and point; the boy had been observing their reactions in a way that was just massively creepy for one so young. Most kids, when rescued, latched onto Gibbs immediately, some sort of weird magic the Bossman had with kids and animals, that never manifested with adults. Also, by now most kids, especially ones this young, were asking for their parents, not interrogating their rescuers.

"I…am not in Gotham, am I?" Timothy asked, displaying the first hint of uncertainty Tony had seen on him that night. "Oh," he whispered faintly, and Gibbs didn't quite make it in time to catch him before he hit the ground.

So. Two days later, the child was still in the hospital. He wasn't injured, but he also hadn't woken up again. Searches of the missing person's database had turned up a couple of matches for his general age and description, but none of them were actually him. They had gotten fingerprint and DNA matches for him, but Tony didn't want to believe them.

According to his fingerprints and DNA, both run multiple times, his name was Timothy Drake-Wayne, adopted son of Bruce Wayne, Gotham Billionaire.

Age 19.

Tony thought, a little hysterically, that at least that explained why there was no missing person's report matching his description.

Tony HATED Gotham cases.


End file.
